CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas Volleyball team will hot the road for one final tournament this season in Florence, Alabama.
UCA had a great effort this past weekend in Tulsa, taking matches against UT Arlington and Oral Roberts and dropped a hard=fought match against Tulsa. With the winning weekend, UCA improved its record to 4-6 ahead of the final non-conference games. Allison Holloway had an excellent weekend, with a season high 12 kills against Tulsa and 26 kills overall throughout the three matches. Lilly Taylor tallied a career-high 17 kills against UT Arlington and 34 kills across three matches in Tulsa. Caylan Koons continued to be a consistent force for the Sugar Bears, tallying 104 assists this past weekend, bringing her season total to 369, which leads the ASUN conference.
The Sugar Bears will first square off with the host North Alabama Lions on Friday night, which will be the ASUN opener for the Sugar Bears. UCA started 0-2 in ASUN play last year before finishing 11-5, so this serves as a great chance to get out to a hot start in 2023. The Lions have had a good start to the season, opening with a 6-4 record. UNA opened the schedule with wins over Louisiana Tech and Little Rock, and last weekend, the Lions picked up wins against Georgetown and George Washington up in Washington D.C. The Lions' leader in kills is grad senior Anna Katherine Griggs with 122, including a season-high 19 against Alabama A&M on Tuesday. Senior Kennedey Johnson leads the Lions in assists with 238 on the season. The Lions lead the all-time series over the Sugar Bears 5-6, but UCA won both matches in 2022, including a five-set thriller in Conway.
The Mississippi Valley State Devilettes will be first up on Saturday for UCA. MVSU is off to a 3-5 start to the year, with wins over Lane College and Tugaloo College. 11 different MVSU players have tallied a kill so far this season and Torre Giron leads the Devilettes with 26. Mikayla Lee leads MVSU in assists this season with 104 so far. UCA leads the all-time series 3-0, however this will be the first time the two have squared off at a neutral site.
UCA will close things out against in-state foe Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday afternoon. UAPB is off to a 1-9 start in 2023, with the lone win coming against UA-Monticello. Junior Zykia Jones leads the Lady Lions in kills this season with 62. Sophomore setter Lyla Jones is another player to look out for the Lady Lions, as she leads the team in assists with 110 and in digs with 71. The Sugar Bears are very familiar with UAPB, as UCA leads the all-time series 40-4, including a win last season in Memphis.
All in all, this weekend is a grand opportunity for the Sugar Bears to start of ASUN play with a win on Friday night, and then a chance to knock off some familiar foes the rest of the weekend.
UCA starts off with North Alabama at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 15th. That match will be streamed on ESPN+, but fans can keep up with the rest of the matches on X at @UCAVball. UCA will cap off this weekend's tournament on Saturday, September 16th against Mississippi Valley State at 11:00 a.m. and against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 3:00 p.m.
